Chungking Express

Chungking Express Literary Elements

Director

Wong Kar-wai

Leading Actors/Actresses

Tony Chiu-Wai Leung, Brigitte Lin, Faye Wong, Takeshi Kaneshiro

Supporting Actors/Actresses

Valerie Chow

Genre

Crime, Drama, Romance

Language

Cantonese, Mandarin, Japanese, Hindi, English

Awards

Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai), and Best Editing (William Cheung Suk-Ping, Kwong Chi-Leung, Hai Kit-Wai) at 1995 Hong Kong Film Awards. Best Actress (Faye Wong) and FIPRESCI prize (Wong Kar-wai) at 1994 Stockholm International Film Festival.

Date of Release

1994

Producer

Yi-kan Chan, Jeffrey Lau

Setting and Context

Hong Kong 1990s

Narrator and Point of View

Points of view is that of Cop 223, Woman in Blonde Wig, Faye and Cop 663

Tone and Mood

Serious, Dramatic, Romantic

Protagonist and Antagonist

Protagonists are Cops 223 and 663, antagonists are their ex-girlfriends May and the Air Hostess

Major Conflict

Both Cops 223 and 663 have been broken up with by their girlfriends, and they seek to move forward.

Climax

Cop 223 spends one night with the woman in the blonde wig and receives a happy birthday message from her the next day that makes him remain hopeful about love. Cop 663 buys the restaurant where Faye used to work and they begin a possible romance when she returns from California.

Foreshadowing

The opening sequence showing the woman in blonde wig go behind a curtain foreshadows that she's dealing in something mysterious and dangerous.

Understatement

The doubling that occurs throughout the film (between the two cops, the women in blonde wigs, Faye and May) is never referenced explicitly or commented on by any of the characters, making it slightly understated.

Innovations in Filming or Lighting or Camera Techniques

Wong Kar-wai's visual style is now legendary, and in Chungking Express he introduced a dazzling camera style and dream-like editing that's at once reminiscent of a home video and of cutting-edge avant-garde filmmaking.

Allusions

Allusions to pop songs by The Cranberries ("Dreams") and The Mamas and the Papas ("California Dreamin'") have a prominent place in the film.

Paradox

Cop 223 makes a living catching bad guys, but paradoxically is spending the night with a murderer and doesn't know it.

Parallelism

The theme of doubles, the depiction of expiration dates, and the repetition of pop songs create elaborate parallel structures that pervade the film.